"This fight about Syria's chemical weapons is not a game. It's real, it's important. It's important to the lives of people in Syria, it's important to the region, it's important to the world, that this be enforced, this agreement that we came out of Geneva with."

2. SOUNDBITE (English) John Kerry, US Secretary of State:

"It confirms what we have brought to the attention of our congress, the American people, and the rest of the world. The UN report confirms unequivicoably that chemical weapons including the nerve agent sarin were used in Syria."

3. SOUNDBITE (English) John Kerry, US Secretary of State:

"Crucial details that confirm that the Assad regime is guilty of carrying out that attack. Even though that was not the mandate of the UN report."

4. SOUNDBITE (English) John Kerry, US Secretary of State:

"We know that the Assad regime possesses sarin and there is not a shred of evidence, however, that the opposition does."

5. SOUNDBITE (English) John Kerry, US Secretary of State:

"The Security Council must be prepared to act next week, it is vital for the international community to stand up and speak out in the strongest possible terms about the importance of enforcable actions to rid the world of Syria's chemical weapons."

STORYLINE:

Secretary of State John Kerry says the U.N. General Assembly should move swiftly to approve a U.S.-Russia deal to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons, saying that there is no time to argue with those who are remain unconvinced that Syrian President Bashar Assad's government carried out a chemical attack last month.

Speaking Thursday at the State Department, Kerry didn't mention Russian President Vladimir Putin, but his remarks were a clear attempt to rebut Putin's statement that Russia has strong ground to believe that Syrian rebels _ not Assad _ were responsible for the attack.

Putin says the perpetrators relied on "primitive" technology using old Soviet-made ammunition no longer in the Syrian army's inventory.

Kerry says the U.S. believes a report by U.N. inspectors proves Assad conducted the attack.